MR. SPENCER, THE ATHANASIAN CREED AND THE ARTICLES
When, in what I believe is misleadingly known as "The Athanasian Creed,"
people say "The Father incomprehensible," and so on, they are not
falling into the same error as Mr. Spencer, for the Latin equivalent for
"incomprehensible" is merely "_immensus_," and Bishop Hilsey translated
it more correctly as "immeasurable."[94] It is a regrettable fact that
Dr. Blunt,[95] in his mistaken modesty, has added a note to this passage
that: "Yet it is true that a meaning not intended in the Creed has
developed itself through this change of language, for the Nature of God
is as far beyond the grasp of the mind as it is beyond the possibility
of being contained within local bounds."
Mr. Spencer seems no happier when we compare his statements with those
in the Anglican Articles of Religion. There God is never referred to as
infinite. It is true that His power and goodness are so referred to; but
this deficiency was presumably brought about intentionally, so that
faith might gain in meaning as time went on.
FOOTNOTES:
[94] _A. C. P._, p. 217.
[95] _Ibid._, p. 218.